Tried out Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox

I entirely missed the first installment of this series. I have never been a great fan of the “Call of Duty” games, I always preferred the “Battlefield” series. I have always preferred the more open aspect of that series over the tightly scripted world of COD. I have also never been a huge fan of WWII games, they are interesting but I get the feeling they are unnecessarily limited (hence my enjoyment of jumping into a tank in Battlefield).

But I was in a supermarket, there was the last copy of the game in the shop and it was cheap, so I picked it up. Nikobe is always telling me what a great game it is. I liked the idea of the various perks in the game, not only the ones like the gunship but the ones that beef-up the useless players in the game seeing as that is the area I live in.

I know this is not going to win me any friends (and maybe the ire of the fan boys) but I can’t say I am impressed.

Feeling disappointed

The real draw for this game is the on-line games, I will come to that in a moment. Before I jumped on-line I wanted to play through the campaign, get a feel for the system before being destroyed by all the 12 year olds playing this 18 game (got to love that).

Started playing and I was very surprised. Why? because I can’t use cover in any way. “Gears of War” and “Rainbow Six” have excellent cover systems and I have come to expect this from my games. People just running down corridors and popping out in full view is just not realistic. I want to use the blocks and walls in the game, rather than them just being a method to have me killed. I know everyone is in the same boat, but not having a cover system is inexcusable. Just to take the micky though the computer can use cover (What?) yes it can hide around corners and behind doors. They can also blind fire at you, and all you can do is duck down or lay prone (just like in real life). If there is one saving grace its the face that the bad guys in the game are worse shots than Storm Troopers.

I was also a little disappointed in the quality of the graphics. The standards are high as far as graphics go and I don’t think MW2 lives up to the requirement. Its only a minor thing, on the whole it is excellent, but in places (like the first snow level) you see some strange artifacts.

Things to like

The way the sights lock onto the closest enemy when you switch to the gun sight is a great idea. Saves a lot of time and makes the game a little more fun. This is especially true when you can barely see the enemies running at you.

Although the game is very scripted, and the path you can take thought the game is limited to a very narrow path it is interesting to see the story unfold. The set pieces in the game are beautifully designed and the action sequences are a lot of fun.

Take it out for a spin, and get destroyed

As I was expecting going on-line to play is normally a disaster. I am killed constantly normally without even seeing my assailant. But the kill cam that shows you your killers point of view just before they took you out is excellent to see. The way the game makes you tougher the more you are killed is also a welcome feature.

Conclusion

I can’t say I am enamored with this game. It is well done, but I personally think there are other games out there that do it a lot better. The XBox live release of Battlefield show what can be done with tanks and mobile combat. “Gears of War” while it is OK, it has a better combat system.

All in all I think this is just not my game. It has not grabbed me like it has with other people. I know there are people who love it and I can see why they might. But it just did not do it for me. I think I will trade it in while the prices are good and get myself something else.

A simple, but fun game for XBox

Just released on XBox live is “Trials HD” a very well done motorbike trials game. After getting the demo I was hooked on this game. Its instant fun factor is evident from the start, and while it initially appears very simple it is actually surprisingly hard to master.

But this game threw me back to one of my most favorite games of all time, and game I played when often over 15 years ago on my ZX Spectrum. That classic game was called Kikstart, and it has more than a passing resemblance to this new title on the XBox.

With a pedigree like that, how could I resist buying it?

Trials HD

The initial idea is very simple. Each level consists of course, you need to get from the start to the finish in the quickest time possible with the least number of accidents.

The levels start out very simple, little jumps, easy ramps. You will very quickly make it past the first two difficulties with the minimum of fuss. But you will still have a lot of fun playing with the idea, and experimenting with the physics. Then the difficulty increases, the medium set of levels are challenging in places, and will cause some frustration but getting through them with trial and error will let you complete the levels quiet quickly.

Then comes the hard levels, and by hard I mean there is a second level of skill to this game that you have to master if you want to get passed even the training level.

This is the great secret of the game, there is a real skill to playing it and its not all about how fast you can drive. There is enough here to keep you entertained for hours, and you will be more than happy to play the levels again and again just for the shear hell of it. That is the making of a good game in my book.

Missed a trick

There are two glaring problems with this game:

First. You can not pull tricks on your bike. Its not really an issue in any way, but if you do happen to find yourself 3 stories up, flying through the air, it would be great to be able to pull a “super man”, or just stand on the saddle. It has no effect on game play, just makes it look cooler.

Second. There is a great level editor in the game. Its a lot of fun to create your own levels (Little Big Planet has re-introduced this idea, and set the bar high). The level of control in the editor is excellent, with an advanced mode if you want more control, and to create more impressive levels.

But I was hoping for a market place for other peoples levels. It was suggesting in the demo you would be able to swap levels with others. You can, but only your friends. Everyone should have been able to share their levels and get new ones. This would increase the games life infinitely, as it is you are pretty much stuck with the ones in the game, and the ones you make.

I have a feeling this is more to do with what Microsoft wants, than it is the developers. Which would be a real shame if Microsoft are crippling great ideas just becuase it does not make them as much money.

Links:

• Eurogames gives it 9 out of 10
• IGN gives it 8.3 – Impressive
• Sarcastic Games shows its not as easy as it looks
• Peoww also has a great review

The Predecessor

One of the best Spectrum games of all time

While this game is a lot of fun, there is a game that came out long before it that is almost identical in every way. Only this game came out over 20 years ago (1988 to be exact).

This was easily one of my favourite games on the ZX Spectrum, not only did it offer great game play. It could be played two player and it had a level editor built in. That was totally unheard of at the time, and made the game just astounding.

I know I have sparked your interest, so you will be please to know you can play it right now on-line.

Some more useful links:

• Crash review from 1988
• World of Spectrum – Kikstart 2 page
• Its great to see I’m not the only one who noticed the similarity to Kikstart or again here (not as original as I first thought it seems)

Conclusion

I have lost hours to this game already, just playing the levels again and again (or getting stuck). So I was delighted with “Trails HD”, I see it as a very modern remake of one of my childhood favourites.

I can thoroughly recommend it!